I have looked and may have missed it in the books.
Example:
Caster is standing back trying to toss a fire bolt into the mix while their barbarian is hacking the orc down. Does the caster have disadvantage on the spell attack roll like the old rules of someone firing an arrow in melee without having the necessary feats to take away the -4 to attack (3.5 rules).
I am delving new into 5e. I skipped 4e but cut my teeth on 2nd ed then transitioned into 3rd. My children have all decided to learn and I want to be as fair as possible. I listen to several different real play podcasts and never have I heard of it being called out and have always questioned it.
I have looked and may have missed it in the books.
Example:
Caster is standing back trying to toss a fire bolt into the mix while their barbarian is hacking the orc down. Does the caster have disadvantage on the spell attack roll like the old rules of someone firing an arrow in melee without having the necessary feats to take away the -4 to attack (3.5 rules).
I am delving new into 5e. I skipped 4e but cut my teeth on 2nd ed then transitioned into 3rd. My children have all decided to learn and I want to be as fair as possible. I listen to several different real play podcasts and never have I heard of it being called out and have always questioned it.
Raw: —— see rules regarding half cover, 3/4ths cover, etc.
how most DMs do it: just roll normally.
But raw: there’d be partial cover and etc depending on line of sight, obstacles, etc.
I have looked and may have missed it in the books.
Example:
Caster is standing back trying to toss a fire bolt into the mix while their barbarian is hacking the orc down. Does the caster have disadvantage on the spell attack roll like the old rules of someone firing an arrow in melee without having the necessary feats to take away the -4 to attack (3.5 rules).
I am delving new into 5e. I skipped 4e but cut my teeth on 2nd ed then transitioned into 3rd. My children have all decided to learn and I want to be as fair as possible. I listen to several different real play podcasts and never have I heard of it being called out and have always questioned it.
You'll want to consider both your position and that of your target's. For ranged attacks(weapon or spell), if there is a hostile creature next to you(within 5ft) who isn't incapacitated, you would have Disadvantage on the attack roll("Hey, stop bumping my elbow, I'm working here!"). Firing INTO a melee situation would involve the Cover rules("Hey, down in front, stop blocking my view!"). Simply being in melee doesn't impose a penalty, but if someone's blocking your line of attack, there would be a penalty to the roll. Technically it's a bonus to the target's AC, but that's just an issue of whether you subtract or the DM adds. The Crossbow Expert feat would remove the Disadvantage from the "source" side of the attack. The Spell Sniper and Sharpshooter feats would eliminate the "target" side penalty in most situations.
The main takeaway here is that, as far as a player is concerned, you don't need to do anything differently than normal.
If a DM is taking cover from creatures into account (by RAW they should, but not everyone does), it is resolved by the DM increasing the target creature's AC against the attack roll. The player reports the results of their attack roll as normal.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
FWIW this could add some mystery for players who are paying attention to the AC of their targets, since it would appear to vary the target AC depending on the exact situation.
If you want them to understand what's happening, you might mention it in flavor text like "You try your best to hit the enemy without risking hitting your friend, but the shot misses". This would be especially important if the enemy AC is 14 and they roll 15 and are confused.
This kind of "warning/notice" would be even more valuable if you think they can just move to avoid that cover penalty. In 5e it's easy to move to aim, so if they can just step 10ft left and hit the enemy without risking their friend, it might be nice to let them know before they attack "Ok you're shooting with your bow, there will be a -2 penalty for half cover if you shoot from this exact angle..."
If they're in a tiny hallway or something then the warning just serves to avoid them thinking the AC itself is jumping around.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
D&D player going back to the 90s with 2e and 3e. Didn't play for years and ended up skipping 3.5e and 4e entirely. Very excited about the openness and clarity of 5e.
Experiences DMing were mostly misadventures back in the day, but trying to be ready to be a decent DM now that my wisdom has gone up a bit.
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I have looked and may have missed it in the books.
Example:
Caster is standing back trying to toss a fire bolt into the mix while their barbarian is hacking the orc down. Does the caster have disadvantage on the spell attack roll like the old rules of someone firing an arrow in melee without having the necessary feats to take away the -4 to attack (3.5 rules).
I am delving new into 5e. I skipped 4e but cut my teeth on 2nd ed then transitioned into 3rd. My children have all decided to learn and I want to be as fair as possible. I listen to several different real play podcasts and never have I heard of it being called out and have always questioned it.
A room smells the same to everyone but a gnome.
Raw: —— see rules regarding half cover, 3/4ths cover, etc.
how most DMs do it: just roll normally.
But raw: there’d be partial cover and etc depending on line of sight, obstacles, etc.
Blank
It is usually half cover if there is another creature in direct line of aim (+2 to AC and DEX saves).
So in the event they hit in the range of the +2 then they hit their party member? A little friendly fire?
A room smells the same to everyone but a gnome.
Hitting cover is an optional rule explained in the DMG, but it’s not part of the game by default.
What they said^
You'll want to consider both your position and that of your target's. For ranged attacks(weapon or spell), if there is a hostile creature next to you(within 5ft) who isn't incapacitated, you would have Disadvantage on the attack roll("Hey, stop bumping my elbow, I'm working here!"). Firing INTO a melee situation would involve the Cover rules("Hey, down in front, stop blocking my view!"). Simply being in melee doesn't impose a penalty, but if someone's blocking your line of attack, there would be a penalty to the roll. Technically it's a bonus to the target's AC, but that's just an issue of whether you subtract or the DM adds. The Crossbow Expert feat would remove the Disadvantage from the "source" side of the attack. The Spell Sniper and Sharpshooter feats would eliminate the "target" side penalty in most situations.
The main takeaway here is that, as far as a player is concerned, you don't need to do anything differently than normal.
If a DM is taking cover from creatures into account (by RAW they should, but not everyone does), it is resolved by the DM increasing the target creature's AC against the attack roll. The player reports the results of their attack roll as normal.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
FWIW this could add some mystery for players who are paying attention to the AC of their targets, since it would appear to vary the target AC depending on the exact situation.
If you want them to understand what's happening, you might mention it in flavor text like "You try your best to hit the enemy without risking hitting your friend, but the shot misses". This would be especially important if the enemy AC is 14 and they roll 15 and are confused.
This kind of "warning/notice" would be even more valuable if you think they can just move to avoid that cover penalty. In 5e it's easy to move to aim, so if they can just step 10ft left and hit the enemy without risking their friend, it might be nice to let them know before they attack "Ok you're shooting with your bow, there will be a -2 penalty for half cover if you shoot from this exact angle..."
If they're in a tiny hallway or something then the warning just serves to avoid them thinking the AC itself is jumping around.
D&D player going back to the 90s with 2e and 3e. Didn't play for years and ended up skipping 3.5e and 4e entirely. Very excited about the openness and clarity of 5e.
Experiences DMing were mostly misadventures back in the day, but trying to be ready to be a decent DM now that my wisdom has gone up a bit.